1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to devices for removing a vehicle from a mired condition or from an icy or snowy location wherein the driven wheels of the vehicle have lost their tractive ability. More particularly, the invention relates to a wheel-operated winch assembly which is capable of being mounted on the driven wheel of a vehicle to cause the vehicle to remove itself from a mired or immobile position by operation of the powered wheel or wheels. The wheel-operated winch assembly of this invention is characterized in one embodiment by a cable drum which is removably attached to a base plate secured to the rim of a vehicle by means of lug nuts, which cable drum contains a coiled cable for attachment to a tree, anchor device or other immobile object, in order to facilitate movement of the vehicle. In a second preferred embodiment of the invention the wheel-operated winch assembly includes as a second element in the assembly, a bumper-mounted cable guide located between the cable drum and the object to which the end of the cable is attached, in order to guide the cable and prevent snarling and entanglement of the cable beneath the wheels or in the frame of the vehicle. An optional third element in the wheel-operated winch assembly is a cable anchor which includes a shaft provided with an earth auger at one end and an eye at the opposite end and a curved anchor plate secured to the shaft immediately below the eye, in order to anchor the free end of the cable when no tree, stump, post or other point of anchor is available.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The powered wheels of vehicles have been used in the prior art as a source of motive power for various purposes. It is known, for example, to mount a winch drum on the driven rear wheel of a vehicle and to anchor one end of a cable wound on the winch drum to a solid object spaced from the vehicle, in order to remove the vehicle from a mired or immobile condition. The driven vehicle wheels have also been used for power take-off purposes in the past and even to accomplish such tasks as splitting wood, using a rotating auger device mounted on the rim of the wheel. An early winch for mounting on the driven wheels of a vehicle is disclosed in a "Draft Appliance for Automobiles" in U.S. Pat. No. 1,054,831, patented on Mar. 4, 1913, to G. V. DePeel. The apparatus of this invention includes a spool mounted to the hub of the driven rear wheel and threaded through a tension or friction guide carried by the bumper to a stake, tree or other immobile object. The wheel is then turned by racing the engine, to wind the rope on the spool and remove the car from its immobilized position. U.S. Pat. No. 1,394,703, dated Oct. 25, 1921, to J. H. Wright, discloses an "Automobile Puller" which includes a drum-shaped device adapted to be secured on the hub of the driven wheel of a vehicle and a cable or rope wound on the drum and attached to an immobile object, such as a tree or stake, in order to remove the vehicle from a mired or immobilized position. A "Vehicle Extricating Device" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,480,035, dated Jan. 8, 1924, to O. S. Warrick, et al. This device includes a pair of drums attached to the driven wheels of a vehicle and a pair of ropes or cables attached to a stake or immobilized object in order to facilitate removal of the vehicle from a mired or immobilized position by operation of the driven wheels. Another drum-type winch device designed to mount on the rear wheels of a vehicle and remove the vehicle from a mired condition, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,528,656, dated Mar. 3, 1925, to H. Crafar. The Crafar device includes a drum attached to the driven wheel of a vehicle by means of a flanged ring, which ring can be selectively locked to the drum, as desired. A cable or rope having one end secured to the flanged ring is wound around the drum and is then tied or otherwise secured to a tree, stump, post, anchor device or other immobile object and power is transmitted to the driving wheel to remove the vehicle from its mired or immobilized condition, as the cable or rope winds on the drum. U.S. Pat. No. 1,901,261, dated Mar. 14, 1933, to S. K. Ramos, discloses an "Automobile Extractor" which includes a pair of detachable sleeve reels temporarily attached to the end of the propelling shaft or the hub of the motor-driven wheel of a vehicle, with one reel located on each side. Each reel is designed to receive a cable or rope thereon and the ropes or cables are extended from the reel devices to a tree or other immobile object and power is supplied to the wheels in order to wind the ropes or cables on the reels and move the vehicle. A "Removable Vehicle-Powered Winch or Pulley" is dislosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,416, dated July 30, 1963, to N. B. Wright. The Wright pulley includes a mounting flange which is attached to the lug studs on a vehicle wheel and a winch drum pinned to the mounting flange and adapted to receive one end of the cable, the opposite end of the cable being attached to a tree, stump, anchor device or alternative immobile object, in order to remove the vehicle from a mired or immobilized condition by supplying power to the driven wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 3,278,159, dated Oct. 11, 1966, to C. A. Jack for "Winch Attachments for Driven Wheels of Automobiles", discloses a similar drum-shaped device for mounting on the drum wheels of a vehicle, with a bumper guide device for guiding a cable wound on the drum and attached to a tree or other object, in order to remove the vehicle from a mired or immobilized condition.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved wheel-operated winch assembly which includes a wheel-driven winch capable of being quickly and easily atached to the wheel rim of a vehicle and used in cooperation with a bumper-mounted cable guide and an optional cable anchor to remove the vehicle from a mired or immobilized condition by utilizing the power of the vehicle itself.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved wheel-operated winch assembly which is characterized by a drum mounted to the wheel studs of a vehicle and provided with a cable wound on the drum and extending to an immobile object through a bumper-mounted cable, whereby the vehicle can be moved by rotating the wheel to which the drum is attached and winding the cable on the drum.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved wheel-operated winch assembly which incorporates a winch characterized by a drum having flanges or fittings for attachment to the wheel studs of a vehicle wheel, a bumper-mounted cable guide with adjustable attachment brackets for receiving a cable wound on the drum and guiding the cable in order to stabilize the vehicle as the vehicle wheel is driven and the cable winds on the drum, and one or more cable anchors, each having a shaft with an earth auger provided on one end and an anchor plate secured to the shaft near the opposite end to provide a point of anchor for the cable under circumstances and in terrain where no other point of anchor is available.